Turned Out Worse
by TopHatGirl
Summary: "Hey! Watch it!" A muffled voice snapped when he stepped on their hand.    "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you th...Rachel?"  Puck/Rachel FRIENDSHIP.


**A/N: Well, Puck might be OOC, but I don't care. Just a quickie one shot. But I'm just on a roll with one shots! WARNING: NOT A PUCKLEBERRY. Just a friendship. **

Puck had a dilemma that was staring him in the face. He just couldn't make a decision. Fritos...or Lays? Oh crap. This is a problem. Fritos or lays fritos or lays ...FRITOS. Yes, Fritos. He will get Fritos. Or...

He got Funyuns. He walked out of 711 suavely after paying, yes, paying, for them. He was popping one of those chips in his mouth when-

"Hey! Watch it!" A muffled voice snapped when he stepped on their hand.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you th...Rachel?"

(Puck 1st POV)

I looked down. Oh god. Rachel slumped up against the wall of 7 effing 11. Crap.

"It's fine, Noah."

I see cuts on her arms. I see dark circles under her eyes. I haven't seen her really since high school, but I didn't think being an adult would...

"Rachel?"

"Yes. You've established that it is me, Rachel."

"Get up."

"What?"

"Get the hell up."

The fragile, tiny body, stands to her feet. She looks like she's about to puke, so I sigh. And I pick her up, and sling her over my shoulder. Like that one Shrek movie. She pounds against my back, and it feels like a fly is trying to punch me.

"Hey! Put me the fuck down! Watch it!" she protests.

"Did vegan good girl Rachel Berry just say the-"-gasp- "f bomb? How dare you?" Sarcasm leaks down my mouth. I continue to carry her into the truck. Some 'gangsta' sixteen year old punk with fake gold chains looks at Rachel worriedly.

"This arsehole trying to hurt you?" he asks. I snort. "Should I call the cops or take care o' him myself?" Rachel knows I could kick this kid's ass, but she doesn't want a fight.

"No, thank you kind sir. He is just being a JACKASS and he should PUT ME DOWN." I ignore her screaming and nod at the dude, then throw Rachel-gently-into my truck. She flips me off, and I blow her a kiss.

I jump into the driver's seat, and shoved some Funyunns into my mouth, crunching loudly. Rachel looks disgusted with me, and gags. I offer her some, holding out the bag. "Want some?"

"With your dirty, greasy hands touching them?" she asks. But she licks her lips and takes a handful. I smirk. "Where are you taking me?"

"To an alleyway to rape you," I say sarcastically. "Actually, we're going to my apartment, and you're going to tell me what happened to you."

"Okay."

I unlock the door by sticking the key in there and slamming my shoulder against it. It creaks open, and makes a thud. I toss the keys on the side table, along with the now empty bag of Funyuns. Rachel looks around, obviously appalled with my lack of tidiness. Dirty socks here and there, empty pizza boxes, and I forgot to clean up my dead hamster Jack Daniels. So what? She was lying on the curb just two minutes ago. She clears a spot on the couch and sighs.

"What happened to you?" I ask, and open a bottle of beer. She snatches it from my hand, and takes a big swig. She gags, nearly spitting it out, and wipes her tongue as if it would take away the taste. She swiftly returns it to the original owner.

"Well." she gets into the fetal position. "To make it short, after high school, everything was going great. College was fun, Finn was amazing, and I was making friends like me. But then I ran out of money, Finn found another girl, and my friends thought I was spiraling down. Bye bye college, boyfriend, friends, life, etc." She slumps, defeated.

"Boo," I say. "You suck, man. You just like, gave up. I've never even been to an actual college. I worked my ass off throughout high school, got barely enough for this cheap apartment and two years of community college, still going, and I'm now an apprentice person at the Hummel garage."

"Oh really," she says, looking envious of little ol' me. "Good for you. How's Kurt and his dad?"

"Who knows? Burt talks about how great Kurt's doing, blah blah blah. I just fix the cars, practice guitar, eat chips, then go to bed." I take another big sip of my beer.

Rachel sighs again, and I wonder if she's ever fainted for doing that. "Can I use your shower?" I nod.

"In the bathroom."

"Thanks." She now looks down at her feet. "Can I, uh, like, stay for the night? Just for the night, and I swear, I'll be outta here before you wake up."

"You okay with the couch?" She nods quickly. I nod too, and she's off to shower. I keep staring at those cuts. I wonder when that happened. I go into the kitchen, and look for something I keep in the cabinet above the sink.

(Rachel POV)

The bathroom is kept surprisingly clean. There's two white towels hanging from a rack, soap, and a toothbrush. Nothing fancy, but I would be more worried if there were other lady's bras lying around. I wonder how many girls have been over here.

I step into the shower, and turn on the hot water. Then I worry about heating and water bills, and decide to take a nice cold shower. I also worry about disturbing everyone else if I sing in the shower, but decide _screw it. I can sing it I want. _And I do. I don't sing really loud, but it's well above the water.

When I get out, I ring out my hair and wrap a towel around it. I have no other clothes, so I just pull on my old pants and shirt that I was wearing before. I hope Puck didn't notice the cuts. I've been trying to stop, but whenever I think about Finn and that slut girl he's with I just get really sad and I want to cry and-

I stop myself before a tear runs down. I quickly step out of the bathroom, and Puck's gone from the couch. Probably asleep. I lie on the couch, turn off the light, and instantly fall asleep, the taste of Funyuns still on my tongue.

In The Morning

I wake up to the afternoon light streaming in through the window. Shit, I slept in late. I promised Puck I would be gone in the morning. There's a note next to me, folded into neat little squares. The handwriting is sloppy and done in a hurry.

Rachel-

Sleep in. I don't care how long you stay, just keep them on, and don't make me put on new ones.

-Puck

New ones? Keep them on? What was he talking about?

Then I see it.

On my arms, over every cuts, are Band Aides.

I feel like I'm healing. 


End file.
